The Rabbit Hole
by Team Dragon Star
Summary: Videl Satan had thought she was one of the best fighters in the world. Unfortunately for her, the world is a vast place, and a chance meeting in the city shows her something more. Now if only she could actually land a hit on the old man...


**This one-shot is brought to you by Redhathacker Sin.**

...

Videl Satan.

When most of Orange City, soon to be renamed Satan City, heard that name, they pictured the daughter of a hero. They pictured someone who was the embodiment of justice, had the strength to defeat men twice her size, and the wits to defeat others who outweighed her by two hundred pounds.

When the city thought of their beloved daughter of the hero who had saved them from Cell, they pictured someone who might be a bit brash at times, but they also knew that she was fast becoming an unbeatable entity within the city.

Unfortunately, if they saw said daughter at the moment, they probably wouldn't recognize her.

Currently, the fourteen-going-on-fifteen-year-old was going red with apoplectic rage. She had been minding her own business in the inner city limits, when she had seen an outrageous character. An old bald man in a garish orange floral shirt, with red sunglasses and board shorts (and was that a purple _turtle_ shell?) had been harassing a group of young women.

Naturally, this caused Videl's hero instincts to roar at her to do something. Videl had never been one to say no to those instincts, so she had called out in an attempt to get the perpetrator to stop. The old man had looked at her and she had attempted to stop his harassment. It was only an attempt, because he had gotten a good look at her and had promptly taken off running in the opposite direction.

For a moment, Videl could do nothing but stare after the man, but that was soon over and she was giving chase. The man led her all over the city. Through the shoppers, diving through back alleys, and for a brief time they were even roof hopping (Videl had been a bit scared here, one misstep and she would be a smear on the ground), before finally stopping in an abandoned area of the city. They were before a building that had closed down ages ago, before her father had even defeated Cell.

"Well, young missy. I'll give you props for persistence, if nothing else, but what's with that horrible stamina?"

Videl couldn't even retort to the old timer's jab. She was too busy taking in gulps of air. She knew that she was in pretty damn good shape. It came with the territory of being one of the best fighters of her generation, but the old man looked as if he was in a league of his own.

It took another minute, but she was able to finally compose herself and pin the old man with the stare she saved for criminals.

"I couldn't just let that shameless harassment go on in my presence."

The old man looked her up and down and Videl felt herself tense at the gaze. She couldn't see the man's eyes, but he was definitely assessing her.

"Well, sorry that you were jealous, but I think you need a few more years before I turn my attentions to you; although you'll no doubt be _quite_ the looker!"

Videl felt a blush rise to her cheeks in embarrassment at those words. The old man had taken her statement completely out of proportion!

"Wha-!? That's not what I meant! I could care less about who you harass; it's the fact that you were harassing at all, that's the issue!"

The old man cocked his head to the side, as if contemplating what she had said, before shrugging as if he didn't understand.

"I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot, surely you could let it slide, if I promise never to do it again."

Videl was going to beat the crap out of this guy. It was clear that he wasn't able to listen to words, so she would have to talk with her fists.

A second later she was launching herself at the man, but he effortlessly dodged her punch by twisting to the side. However, Videl wasn't one of the best fighters in her generation for nothing. She immediately flowed into another attack, trying to backhand the old man, but her fist once more met air.

She twirled around and saw him standing calmly at the point where she had started at. She realized that their positions were now reversed. Grinding her teeth, she once more attempted to engage the man in combat, but every punch, every kick, every attempted grab, he would dodge with ease.

This went on for another five minutes and Videl could feel herself growing red with rage. She was one of the best martial artists in the world, damn it! She even gave her father, who was the strongest fighter in the world, a run for his money on occasion. However, it seemed that that meant nothing in the face of this old man's overwhelming ability to evade all of her attacks.

Videl was growing more and more frustrated as time passed. She had been throwing everything she had at the man, but nothing was working. She felt the sweat dripping down her brow, as well as her labored breathing. She was once more struggling to inhale and exhale properly, her exertions taking their toll.

However, even though she was pretty sure she was going to pop a vein in rage, she also felt an odd sense of satisfaction. Whatever else Videl Satan was, she was first and foremost a fighter. The fact that she had found someone so far above her level both enraged and thrilled her. _This_ was what she lived for.

Eventually Videl was laid out on the floor, her attacks having exhausted her. She had been trying her hardest to smash that smug old man's face in, but he had beaten her without even lifting a finger. Who the heck was this guy?

"Well, I'd say that wasn't a bad warm up."

Videl glared at the old man as he leaned over, his hands held calmly behind his back. She saw her disheveled appearance in the reflections of his glasses. Her hair was sticking up in weird angles and her face was flush with exertion. Her rage had left her at some point, and all that was left in its wake was a sense of exhaustion. She was hoping that he would just drop in some kind of divine retribution, but that obviously didn't happen.

"I…hate…you!"

She was barely able to grind that sentence out in between pants for breath.

However, it looked like the old man only found amusement in her hate.

"I see some potential in you, young missy. In fact, I'd say you remind me of my former students. You're not quite at their level yet, but you might be able to get there one day, if you actually find a martial arts master to train you."

Videl clenched her teeth at the unintended insult to her father.

"I…already…have…a…master."

The old man's eyebrow rose at her claim.

"Oh? And what's this master's name?"

Videl was finally able to feel her breath coming back, so there weren't any pauses in her response this time.

"Hercule Satan, the hero who defeated Cell. He's been training me."

The old man's other eyebrow joined the previously raised one. Evidently he hadn't been expecting that.

"Well now, that's interesting. Now why would this hero take an interest in a young girl like you?"

Videl felt slightly incredulous at the man's nonchalance.The mention of the hero who had defeated Cell didn't seem to faze him, but she decided that there wasn't any real harm in telling the old man why.

"I'm his daughter."

The man nodded in understanding at her answer.

"Well, I didn't know he had a daughter, but I suppose all masters want to train their own kids in their martial arts. Unfortunately for you, I think you've already taken the style as far as it's gonna go for you. Tell me, have you been giving your father a challenge on occasion?"

Videl was flabbergasted that the old man had been able to predict that. It was an unspoken rule that no one in her father's gym talk about the spars that she and her father fought. She felt that she had her father on the ropes a couple of times, but she hadn't fought her father again recently.

The old man took her silence for confirmation.

"Well, I suppose it's only natural. Although your father is the World Champion, his style is relatively new. Personally I don't know how well it would hold up to the _real_ martial art masters scattered through the world."

Videl felt her temper rising at that. Her father was a hero, someone who had saved the entire world from the villainous Cell. How dare this sexual harasser doubt her father!

"Oh yeah, and who are these so-called master!?

The old man seemed fairly amused by her outburst.

"Well, you're looking at one of them, although I'd say that I'm far past my prime, and am probably one of the weaker masters on the planet. However, I still taught a few students and have held the World Championship title before."

Videl felt herself gaping at the old man. She had always loved the World Martial Arts Tournament, but to have this old man claiming to be a former champion? She just couldn't believe. However, after thinking about the constant evasions and how he had defeated her without ever actually throwing a punch, she could actually see that the man might have been fairly strong. If that was the case, did she ever have a chance at defeating him?

Videl snapped out of her contemplation and gazed at the old man.

"If that's true, then your name has to be fairly recognizable. Who are you?"

The old man laughed at that. Apparently he liked her blunt questions.

"Well, you're certainly not afraid to speak your mind."

Videl felt herself blush at the subtle rebuke in the man's words, but he continued on in any case.

"My name is Roshi the Turtle Hermit, but quite a few people call me Master Roshi."

...

Roshi looked on as the young Videl left the building he had chosen as a testing, ground with her figurative tail between her legs. Even though he was getting on in years, and his students had far surpassed his own abilities, it was nice to see that he could keep up with the newest generation of martial artists.

Roshi felt a slight pang as he thought of his former students. At the moment he only had one surviving one, but Roshi respected his wishes to stay in the afterlife after the defeat of Cell. Indeed, so far it seemed like a well thought out move, as the worst that the Earth had had to deal with the past few years had been the common thugs that plagued the city. However, that didn't stop himself from feeling like he had let his student down, even when he logically knew that he had been far outstripped in ability.

Still, Roshi found himself contemplating the Satan girl. Apparently there were still some human bred fighters that had the drive to surpass the limits that normal society had put on martial arts after the Cell Games. He found himself intrigued by the girl, despite the fact that she was the daughter of a fraud. She hadn't given up, even when it was clear that she was severely outmatched when it came to him. Then again, he had spent quite a bit of time honing his skill, and he saw an untapped potential within the girl. Given the right push, she could outrank Krillin as the strongest full blooded human on the planet.

Roshi shook himself out of his contemplation. He was getting ahead of himself. True, the girl had potential, but the only way she was going to grow was if she found the right teacher. He thought he might be able to set her on the right path, but she first had to come to him. Stroking his beard in thought, he turned around and began ambling home. Hopefully she would come to him soon; he somewhat missed teaching.

...

Videl was reeling from the news as she trudged her way back home in defeat. She hadn't been beaten in so long,but then she suddenly bumped into one of the World's most prestigious former Champions. How did that happen? What kind of coincidence was that? However, she shook her head as she approached her home.

Even though the Champ preached excess as much as possible, their home wasn't too extravagant, considering he was the hero who saved them all from Cell. True, it was placed in prime location, but it only stood two stories and had a few extra rooms to store various trinkets that she and her father had collected over the years. Her favorite addition to their home was the World Tournament standard ring that had been installed in the back, so that both she and her dad could practice against both people from his dojo, and others who came to challenge the World Champ.

As Videl went through her usual routine before bed, she couldn't get what Master Roshi had said out of her head.

"_Well, I suppose it's only natural. Although your father is the World Champion, his style is relatively new. Personally I don't know how well it would hold up to the real martial art masters scattered through the world."_

Videl felt her fists clench at his words. If her dad's martial arts weren't the strongest in the world, then where had the true masters been when Cell had been around? If there were stronger fighters, why did her dad have to defeat Cell?

These questions were something she had never confronted before, but she swore that she would find out the truth. She deserved the truth, either from her dad or from other sources.

Tomorrow, she would hunt down any and all information she could find on the reclusive Turtle Hermit. She would show him just how well her father's martial arts stood up to the _true_ masters.

Mind set on a course for tomorrow, Videl drifted off to sleep.

...

Yamcha had been enjoying the nightlife a little too much lately, if the pounding in his head,coinciding with the pounding on his door was anything to go by. His baseball career had been taking off, and he had been living it up as much as possible. Chicks dug professional athletes, much more than professional martial artists, Hercule Satan withstanding of course.

He glanced at the picture frame, housing a photo of all his old friends from back in his fighting days. He felt a pang of loss at Goku's visage, but he figured that that would fade eventually as well. Yamcha shook himself out of his stupor, turning to the pounding door that was doing nothing for his headache. It was time he left that life behind him; he had had the tendency to die far more often than was necessary for any rational human being.

His eyebrows drew together into a scowl as the knocking _still_ continued. Damn it, all that noise was just making him more pissed off!

With quick confident strides, he crossed the room and flung open the door. Rather violently, he might add. He took in the sight of some teenage girl with dark hair and blue eyes, before he rose an eyebrow in confusion. For the life of him, he couldn't remember ever laying eyes on her before.

Deciding that nonchalance was the better part of valor, even though his admittedly angry door opening methods kind of ruined that, he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame.

"Hello there. Sorry if I'm being rude, but who are you and what do you want?"

He winced internally at his tone of voice, but he tried not to show anything on his countenance.

However, it seemed that the girl was perfectly fine with blunt questions; she responded in kind.

"My name is Videl Satan, and I'm here to talk about someone I met in town the other day, an old guy calling himself Master Roshi."

Yamcha was somewhat startled at Roshi's name. True, he had studied under the Turtle Hermit for a brief time, but he hadn't truly had a master-student relationship the likes of which the old man shared with Krillin or Goku.

Wait, had she also said that her last name was Satan? Why did that name sound so familiar? For a moment nothing was coming to him, before he remembered where he had heard it elsewhere. He snapped his fingers in recognition.

"Oh! You must be that idiot's kid!"

Yamcha paused as he thought about what he had just said, before looking at the visibly reddening girl in disbelief.

"That guy actually reproduced?"

It seemed that his last comment really riled the teenager up, as in the next second she had tried to land a flying kick to his face. Unfortunately for her, even though Yamcha was much weaker than the rest of the gang nowadays, he was still one of the deadliest _humans_ around.

In a second he had sidestepped her attack, grasping her outstretched leg and sending her flying out of his door and into the hallway, where she crashed unceremoniously into the wall, before slumping to the floor, obviously somewhat dazed from her impromptu flight. He hadn't used much force, so the wall only took some superficial damage. The same could be said for the girl.

Even though she appeared to be somewhat dazed, she was definitely coming around quickly enough. Yamcha watched in slight amusement as the girl sprang back into a fighting stance that had far too many holes in it to be effective against anyone that he used to fight with. He tilted his head to the side as he examined her. She was like a bristling cat, trying to be intimidating, but somehow falling short.

Yamcha cracked his neck as he stepped out of his apartment. Apparently a fight had been just what the doctor order to cure his hangover from the night before. He decided that he would play with the kitten for a bit.

"Well then, Kitten, if you wanna fight, follow me to the roof, I'd rather not have to explain why my apartment was messed up by from some teenager, thank you very much."

Yamcha watched in some satisfaction as the girl visibly bristled at his little nickname for her, but didn't give her the chance to respond; he had closed his door and was already striding toward the stairwell. He paused at the stairs, looking back to see that she was still just standing and glaring at him.

"Well, I'm not gonna tell you anything if you don't follow me. See you on the roof, Kitten."

He could almost _hear_ the gnashing of her teeth as he turned and began meandering up the stairs. He had no doubt that she would follow.

...

Videl was pissed. This was the second time in two days that she had met someone who could counter her moves with seemingly effortless ability. He had even had the gall to give her a horrendous nickname and insult her father!

She had started the day determined to find more information on Master Roshi. A little digging had revealed that a few of his students had competed in some of the previous World Tournaments, but she had no idea who Krillen was. She had been surprised to see that the former champion Goku had been a student of the Turtle Hermit, but she had no idea where he lived.

That had left only one person that she knew, only because Sharpner had been into baseball lately. Yamcha had been making a name for himself in the professional baseball circuit and was quickly becoming one of the greatest players to have ever lived. She was somewhat surprised to find out that he was also a martial artist.

A little bit more digging, this time on the police force, had shown her where he was currently living, and she had gone to confront the baseball player to try and figure out more about the old Turtle Hermit. However, now she just wanted to bash his face in.

True, she had lost her temper when he had insulted her father, but he had dismantled her attack so easily! It was almost as annoying as not being able to hit Master Roshi yesterday! She had taken off after him when he issued his challenge and had taken the stairs two at a time to get to the roof. When she burst out, she saw that Yamcha had beaten her there and was waiting patiently with his arms crossed, staring at the sky with an indiscernible expression.

"Well, at least you're not a coward, Kitten. Although I don't think you really understand what you're getting into."

Videl bristled at that damn nickname, but she inwardly calmed herself. She wasn't going to let some washed up martial artist turned pro athlete talk down to her.

"Hmph, I'd watch my tone if I were you, I spar with my dad and I've come pretty close to beating him already, despite my age!"

She knew she was boasting, but she couldn't really help it. She had quite a bit of pride in her skills as a martial artist. Unfortunately all Yamcha did was raise an eyebrow in response to her claims.

"Oh? Well then, I suppose I won't have to hold back too much if you can take on the _World_ Champ."

Videl grit her teeth in frustration at Yamcha's goading tone. The baseball player definitely knew how to push all the wrong buttons. She was going to wipe that smirk off his face. This time she ignored the impulse to unleash a leaping kick at that smug grin. She had learned from their last encounter and she would be more cautious this time, so she flowed into her fighting stance.

For a moment neither of the two moved, but that wasn't meant to last, as Yamcha sighed and put his hands in his pockets, once more looking up at the sky.

"I thought this might be a challenge, but I think you're a bit too full of yourself, kid. You've probably only been in sanctioned martial art tournaments your entire life, and your style is still incomplete.

Even though I'm years out of practice, I don't think you can beat me."

Videl felt herself snap at that, and self control be damned, she launched toward Yamcha, who easily side stepped her straight punch. She followed up with a low kick, but a simple hop from the baseball player and he had easily dodged the attack. Frustrated, she began her offensive once more, but just like yesterday, she couldn't seem to get a hit in.

"You know, the problem you have is that you telegraph your attacks before you throw them."

She tried to ignore the calm tone as Yamcha once more evaded a sweeping kick with a hop.

"This isn't your fault really, I'm sure if you fought any other normal person your age, you'd be pretty damn fast. Hell, I'd say you'd be pretty quick to most adults too."

Videl bit back a curse as Yamcha avoided a punch by leaning back slightly, her fist centimeters from landing a solid hit.

"However, there is one other problem that comes with that."

Videl was about to unleash another attack, when she saw stars as an explosion of pain erupted from her abdomen. She gasped for breath, flew backwards and skid along the floor, clutching her stomach as she came to a stop.

"You haven't really been hit yet. Your pain tolerance isn't quite at the level that you need it to be to step into my level."

Videl rolled to her knees, still gasping for breath, but she stubborn as she was, she wouldn't give in to the desire to stay down. Just because he had gotten in one good hit didn't mean she would be taken out so easily. She tensed as she heard footsteps approaching her, echoing over the rooftop.

"Man, I guess you're tougher than you look. I had thought that hit would be enough to knock you out. Maybe your pain tolerance is just naturally high?"

Videl glared at the blurred outline that Yamcha had become. That wasn't good. She was getting pretty dizzy from the pain. The baseball player hit _hard_. She gritted her teeth as she attempted to stand up, but before she could she felt a flick on her forehead. She toppled over onto her butt and merely glared at Yamcha, who only chuckled in response to her death stare.

"I think that's enough for now. I'll tell you what you wanna know, within reason of course."

His piece said, Yamcha plopped down on the ground right across from her. She really wanted to kick his ass, but she still felt a little weak in the knees from the hit that he had dished out earlier.

She had to settle for glaring daggers at the man who had antagonized her.

"Hey now, don't be looking at me like that. Even I could see your potential while we were sparring. What I'm curious about is why you wanna know about Roshi, especially if that idiot is your dad."

Videl bristled at the implied attack on her dad's character, but settled down. She wouldn't get anywhere if she kept on challenging Yamcha to a fight and losing. Therefore, she reluctantly began to recount the tale of finding Roshi peeping on girls, the subsequent chase, and the fight that they had gotten into at the end.

By the time she had finished her story, Yamcha had been openly laughing at her. She resisted the urge to punch him in his smug face. She had to remember that at the moment he was the better fighter. He had experience and talent under his belt and just by the feel of him she could tell that he had actually used his martial arts to defend his life.

"Yeah that sounds like Roshi alright."

Yamcha kept on chuckling a bit more before adopting a more somber expression, studying her with the eyes of a keen fighter.

"I'm not going to pretend that I'm one of the masters that Roshi mentioned, at least not anymore, but I do know that the old man knows what he's talking about."

Videl had been taken by surprised at Yamcha's admission of his own abilities. So he wasn't even a master and he had still been able to defeat her with a single attack? Apparently she had a long way to go before she was on her father's level. After all, if these were the types of fighters he constantly faced. Perhaps he had been going easy on her since she was his daughter?

Her attention was dragged away from her inner musings as Yamcha continued talking.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm not teacher material. I have too many other obligations, and my own martial arts have suffered under them. If you still want to train and step into the _real_ world of martial arts, I can tell you about a place where you can begin."

Videl perked up in attention at this. If she could actually learn how to fight like Roshi and Yamcha, she would be able to get her payback.

"There's this house on an island in the sea that's pink, you can't miss it…"

...

Roshi was enjoying the quiet lull of the ocean as he napped in the sunlight of his modest island in the middle of the ocean. To his left was his beloved Kame House in all its pink glory. The palm trees were swaying gently in the sea breeze, and he was enjoying the silence.

He found himself thinking back to the young father that had accosted him just a few days ago. He wondered if she was able to track down Yamcha with the information he had left and if she would be showing up on his doorstep soon. Well, he supposed there was no skin off his nose if she didn't show.

Just as he was having those thoughts, he heard a howl that had nothing to do with the natural sounds of the ocean. He looked into the distance and saw a Capsule Copter rapidly approaching his humble island. He hid a smile as his former student walked out with an inquisitive expression plastered on his face.

"Who's this coming to the island? I've never seen that Copter before, did Bulma get a new vehicle?"

Roshi waved his student off.

"Don't worry about it, Krillin, I found someone rather interesting when I was visiting the city the other day. I think she finally decided to take a step into our world of martial arts."

Krillin raised an eyebrow at his Master's words, before turning to watch as the yellow Copter flew over their heads, kicking up both the sand and the waves. It banked hard to the right and flew back, before settling down in front of the Kame House.

Roshi waited patiently as he saw Krillin fold his arms in expectation. Roshi also got to his feet, and leaned on his trusty wooden staff as the hatch to the Copter popped open, emitting an explosion of compressed air. Roshi glanced over to his former student and saw that his other eyebrow had risen to join his furry brother. Apparently whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't the girl who had hopped out.

Videl went and capsulized the Copter, before turning to the two men on the sandy beach of the small island. The Copter disappeared in an explosion of smoke and became one of the portable capsules that Bulma's father had developed so long ago.

"Well, Master Roshi, I've tracked you down, please teach me the ways of the Turtle Style of martial arts."

Roshi felt his hidden smile turn into an all out grin. He had been waiting for this for the past few days. He turned to his former student and gestured toward Videl.

"Well, what do you think?"

Krillin raised gave a rather puzzled look at his Master's question.

"What do I think about what exactly?"

Roshi's grin grew even wider at that.

"Why, your new student of course!"

For a moment there was dead silence as Roshi's words sank in, but that was quickly short lived as dual voices sounded cried out.

"WHAT!?"

Roshi was going to have a blast watching his former student take on a student of his own.

...

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